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FIRST DIVISION
PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINES,
Plaintiff-Appellee,
-versus-
JIMMY CEDENIO y PERALTA,
Accused-Appellant.
No. 201103
Present:
SERENO, C.J,
Chairperson,
LEONARDO-DE CASTRO,
REYES,
PERLAS-BERNABE, *and
**
LEONEN, JJ
Promulgated:
X------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ------------X
RESOLUTION
REYES, J.:
Appealed in this case is the Decision
1
dated July 29, 2011 of the Court
of Appeals (CA) in CA-G.R. CR-HC No. 04220, affirming with
modification the Decision
2
dated September 21, 2009 rendered by the
Regional Trial Court (RTC) of Pasay City, Branch 119, in Criminal Case
No. 04-2742 for Rape. The dispositive portion of the CA's Decision
provides:
FOR THE STATED REASONS, the assailed RTC Decision
convicting accused-appellant Jimmy Cedenio of the crime of rape is
AFFIRMED with the MODIFICATION that, in addition to the award of
Acting member per Special Order No. 1537 (Revised) dated September 6, 2013.
Acting member per Special Order No. 1545 (Revised) dated September 16, 2013.
Penned by Associate Justice Mario V. Lopez, with Associate Justices Magdangal M. De Leon and
Socorro B. lnting, concurring; CA ro!lo, pp. 116-128.
2
Issued by Judge Pedro De Leon Gutierrez; id. at 25-34.
Resolution G.R. No. 201103



2
[P]50,000.00 as civil indemnity, he is ORDERED to pay [AAA]
3
the
amount of [P]50,000.00 as moral damages.

SO ORDERED.
4


The evidence for the prosecution established the following: Twenty
one (21)-year old AAA and accused-appellant J immy Cedenio (Cedenio)
rented separate rooms on the same floor of a building in Pasay City. AAA
lives with her boyfriend BBB and two (2) other persons, while Cedenio lives
with his family. They all use a common bathroom. At around 9:30 a.m. of
October 20, 2004, after her roommates left for work, AAA went back inside
the room after taking a bath. She noticed that the light inside the room was
on. Upon entering the room, Cedenio, from behind the door, placed his arm
around her and poked a fan knife at her side. She pleaded for him not to kill
or rape her but he told her that he only wanted to talk. Cedenio, however,
then told her to lie down on the foam spread on the floor, and grabbed the
towel wrapped around her. She pleaded with him to spare her and told him
that she was having her period, to no avail. After Cedenio was able to have
sex with AAA, he threatened to kill her if she tells anybody about it. With
Cedenio still inside the room, AAA hurriedly dressed up and left. She went
to Baclaran Mall where BBB was working and related her ordeal to him.
They immediately went to the barangay hall to report the incident. While
there, AAA saw Cedenio in the vicinity and told BBB who immediately ran
after Cedenio. BBB was joined by barangay tanods and Cedenio was
eventually collared. At that point, PO3 Herman Abanilla, who was on board
a tricycle, saw the fracas, arrested Cedenio and brought him to the police
headquarters.
5


Cedenio denied the accusation against him and set up the defense of
alibi. He claimed that he was out selling cigarettes and candies in Pasay
Rotunda at the time of the incident. He went back home at around 10:30
a.m. to put down his goods and thereafter fetched his children from school.
He was near the barangay hall in the afternoon to buy food when the tanods
approached him and, after confirming his identity, arrested him.
6


Both the RTC and the CA gave more weight and credit to the
prosecutions version of the incident and did not heed Cedenios alibi. Both
courts did not find any reason to disbelieve AAAs testimony and ruled that
Cedenio failed to establish any ill-motive on AAAs part for her to
maliciously implicate him. The CA further disregarded Cedenios claim that

3
The name of the victim, her personal circumstances and other information which tend to establish
or compromise her identity shall not be disclosed to protect her privacy and fictitious initials shall, instead,
be used, in accordance with People v. Cabalquinto, 533 Phil. 703 (2006), and A.M. No. 04-11-09-SC
dated September 19, 2006.
4
CA rollo, p. 127.
5
Id. at 26-27, 117-118.
6
Id. at 89, 119.
Resolution G.R. No. 201103



3
AAAs lack of physical resistance is contrary to common human behavior,
ruling that AAA was at knife point at that instance and there is no uniform
reaction from rape victims.
7
The CA thus affirmed Cedenios conviction for
Rape, the imposition of reclusion perpetua as penalty and the award of
P50,000.00 as civil indemnity. The CA also awarded moral damages in the
amount of P50,000.00.
8


Upon review, the Court does not find any reason to overturn
Cedenios conviction of the crime of Rape.

Under Article 266-A(1)(a) of the Revised Penal Code, as amended,
rape is committed when: (1) the offender had carnal knowledge of a woman;
and (b) that the same was committed by using force and intimidation.
9
In
this case, the prosecutions evidence established that Cedenio was able to
forcibly have carnal knowledge of AAA on October 20, 2004 after he poked
her with a knife and threatened to kill her. The Court, like the CA, cannot
sustain Cedenios claim that AAAs lack of physical resistance is not a
normal behavior in such cases. Physical resistance need not be established
in rape cases when intimidation is exercised upon the victim who submits
against her will because of fear for her life and personal safety.
10
If a knife
on ones side is not a sufficient source and cause of fear, then what is?

Moreover, Cedenios defense of alibi is an inherently weak defense
that is easy to fabricate.
11
Cedenio failed to present clear and convincing
evidence that he was in a place other than the situs criminis at the time the
crime was committed, such that it was physically impossible for him to have
been at the scene of the crime when it was committed.
12
The CA noted that
Cedenios job gave him mobility and it was easy for him to go home and
commit the crime; thus, his alibi cannot prosper.
13


The CA also correctly affirmed the imposition of reclusion perpetua
as penalty.
14
The same should be imposed without eligibility for parole.
15



7
Id. at 125.
8
Id. at 127.
9
People v. Malana, G.R. No. 185716, September 29, 2010, 631 SCRA 676, 685.
10
People v. Aguilar, G.R. No. 185206, August 25, 2010, 629 SCRA 437, 449.
11
People v. Arpon, G.R. No. 183563, December 14, 2011, 662 SCRA 506, 529.
12
Id.
13
CA rollo, p. 125.
14
REVISED PENAL CODE, as amended, Article 266-A.
15
Section 3 of Republic Act No. 9346 (An Act Prohibiting the Imposition of Death Penalty in the
Philippines) provides that [p]ersons convicted of offenses punished with reclusion perpetua, or whose
sentences will be reduced to reclusion perpetua, by reason of this Act, shall not be eligible for parole under
Act No. 4103, otherwise known as the Indeterminate Sentence Law, as amended. See also People v.
Subesa, G.R. No. 193660, November 16, 2011, 660 SCRA 390, 403, citing People v. Ortiz, G.R. No.
179944, September 4, 2009, 598 SCRA 452, 457; People v. Bulagao, G.R. No. 184757, October 5, 2011,
658 SCRA 746, 761.
As to the civil iiahility, both the RTC <md theCA ordered Cedenio to
pay AAA F50,000 00 as civil indemnity. The CA further awarded
P50,000.00 as moral damages. Civil indemnity is mandatory upon the
finding of the fact of rape, while moral dametges are proper without need of
proof other than the fact of rape by virtue of the undeniable moral suffering
of AAA due to the rape.
16
The amounts awarded are all in accord with
prevailing jurisprudence.
17
The Court, however, further awards exemplary damages in the
amount of P30,000.00. The award of exemplary damages is justified under
Article 2229 of the Civil Code to set a public example or correction for the
public good.
18
In addition, interest at the rate of six percent ( 6%) per annum
shall be imposed on all the damages awarded, to earn from the date of the
finality of the Court's resolution until fully paid.
19
WHEREFORE, the appeal is hereby DISMISSED. The Decision
dated July 29, 2011 of the Court of Appeals in CA-G.R. CR-HC No. 04220
is AFFIRME'D, with modifications that exemplary damages in the amount
of THIRTY THOUSAND PESOS (P30,000.00) be awarded and that the
penalty of reclusion perpetua imposed on accused-appellant Jimmy Cedenio
shall be without eligibility for parole. Moreover, the damages awarded in
this case shall earn an interest at the rate of six percent (6%) per annum from
the date of the finality of this Resolution until fully paid.
SO ORDERED.
Associate Justice
WE CONCUR:
MARIA LOURDES P. A. SERENO

Chairperson
Pcopli! 1'. Arcillas, G.R. No. 181491, .July 30,2012,677 SCRA 624,637.
17
Section 3 of Republic Act No. 9346 entitled "An Act Prohibiting the Imposition of Death Penalty
in the Philippines"; J>cople 1'. Tejero, G.R. No. 18774-l, June 20,2012,674 SCRA 244,260.
IR J>eople v. fl,lahajan, G.R. No. 192180, March 21, 2012, 668 SCRA 859, 868.
19
PeoJJ!e of the Philippines v. Rolando Cahungan, G.R. No. 189355, January 23. 2013.
Resolution 5 G.R. No. 201103

AAfL lu.MI
ESTELA TERESITA J. LEONARDO-DE CASTRO
Associate Justice
MARVIC 10 VICTOR F. LEONE
Associate Justice
CEil.TIFICATION
Associate Justice
Pursuant to Section 13, Article VIII of the Constitution, I certifY that
the conclusions in the above Resolution had been reached in consultation
before the case was assigned to the writer of the opinion of the Court's
Division.
MARIA LOURDES P. A. SERENO
Chief Justice